Students explore the history of Syria from the Ottoman Empire to French colonial rule, Syrian independence, and the rise of the Assad regimes as historical background to understand the recent conflict.
October 2024 (update)
There are more displaced people around the world today than at any time in recorded history—at the end of 2023, 117.3 million people had been forcibly displaced from their homes. Why have so many people been displaced? What is the experience like for people who are forced to leave their homes? In this lesson, students examine maps, data, and broader trends in the global refugee crisis, and then explore the stories and experiences of individuals. Students consider local, U.S., and international responses to the crisis and have an opportunity to participate in local efforts to assist refugees.
This lesson has been updated to include revised maps and new data, refugee stories, videos, and news articles. A previous version of the lesson (January 2022) is available here.
Recommended Reading
Though this lesson can be completed as a stand-alone activity, the Choices’ curriculum unit Immigration and the U.S. Policy Debate provides a more comprehensive introduction to the topic of migration, belonging, and immigration and refugee policy in the United States.
Objectives
In this lesson, students will:
- Explore the human geography of the current global refugee crisis.
- Employ data to create a map of the refugee crisis.
- Examine one refugee’s story and use it to map their experiences.
- Consider challenges facing refugees and the international community and weigh responses to the crisis.
Resources
Handout: Key Terms
Handout: Refugee and IDP Data—2023
Handout: Mapping the Global Refugee Crisis
Handout: Mapping One Refugee’s Journey
Handout: Refugee Stories
Optional Interviews: Afghan Voices of Hope
Slideshow: Maps
Notes
Teaching about the global refugee crisis requires special sensitivity. Be sure to preview the sources to make sure they are appropriate for your classroom. The activity might be especially intense for students with a personal connection to the issue. Most of the personal narratives address violence the refugee witnessed or experienced, or extreme hardship. Teachers should help promote careful consideration of the topic and work to make their classrooms a safe, trusting place of belonging in which all students can learn from one another.
Colored pencils or markers will be helpful for this activity.
In the Classroom
1. Introduction – Write or project the question “What might force you (and your family) to leave your home and your country?” on the board. Give students one to two minutes to consider the question individually, then ask students if they have heard about the global refugee crisis. What is a refugee? What are some reasons that refugees leave their homes?
Distribute “Key Terms,” and review each term with the class. Make sure that students understand the differences between a refugee, an internally displaced person (IDP), and a migrant. Review what it means for a person to apply for asylum. You may wish to show the following Choices video of Professor Madeline Campbell (What are refugees and internally displaced persons?) to help introduce the terms.
What are refugees and internally displaced persons?
2. Mapping the Global Crisis – Explain to students that in order to better understand the scope of the crisis, they are going to analyze data on refugees and internally displaced people and then map that information. Distribute to each student a copy of “Refugee and IDP Data—2023” and “Mapping the Global Refugee Crisis.” Instruct students to read through the data handout on their own. Next, guide the class through the instructions for shading in the map on the “Mapping the Global Refugee Crisis” handout. Go over the term “map key” with students, if needed. You may wish to have students complete this activity in pairs or small groups rather than all together as a class. It might be helpful to project the map onto a screen or whiteboard for reference.
If colored pencils or markers are not available for your classroom, consider instructing students to use patterns in place of colors when shading in areas on the map.
After the class has completed the exercise, ask students to reflect on what they have mapped and read. Were they surprised by any of the data? Which numbers were the most striking? How does the data compare to what they expected to see?
Ask students about the countries they shaded on the map. What do students know about the current situation in countries that are the largest sources of displaced people—Afghanistan, Syria, Venezuela, Ukraine, and South Sudan? Why might such large numbers of people be leaving their homes in these places?
Ask students about the top host countries and countries with the most asylum applications. Why might refugees go to these countries? Encourage students to look at the locations of these countries on the map. How does location affect where refugees go? What might be other reasons that so many refugees travel to these countries?
3. Mapping One Refugee’s Journey – Explain to students that in order to learn more about the current refugee crisis, they will read the account of one refugee and then map their journey. Break the class into small groups or pairs. Assign one refugee story per group, and give each student their assigned refugee story from “Refugee Stories” and one copy of the appropriate “Mapping One Refugee’s Journey” handout. Note that there are three different maps that correspond to the different areas of the world through which the refugees traveled. A reference world map with relevant countries labeled is included on page 7 of the handout, in case you would like to distribute it to students as well.
Ask students to follow the instructions on the handouts. They should begin by reading the refugee’s story. Note that many of the stories have been translated from their original language for an English-language audience. Review any vocabulary that students have identified as challenging. Have students fill out Part I of the “Mapping One Refugee’s Journey” handout and then complete the map exercise described in Part II. Tell students that they will be sharing their Part I handout and Part II map with the rest of the class.
The map exercise designates specific tasks, but also asks students to use creativity to illustrate aspects of their refugee’s journey that they think are important. This could include drawing a picture, using an image, or adding text to the map.
Alternative Interviews
Another collection of refugee stories that you may find useful for this activity are stories collected by Afghan Voices of Hope. The site features interviews with Afghan refugees worldwide.
You may wish to orient students to the website. Each refugee’s page includes responses to questions in audio and text format, photographs, and in some cases video content. Most of the stories focus less on the refugee’s journey and more on their experiences in Afghanistan and their new home. Remind students that, because each story is different, they only need to fill in the sections of the handouts for which they have information.
Note: Some of the stories are intense and powerful and may be upsetting for students. Be sure to preview the sources to make sure they are appropriate for your classroom. For example, Jawid talks about threats of violence when he tried to escape on a U.S. military plane, Mina discusses violence during a protest in Afghanistan, and Farzana F. discusses violence she witnessed as a police officer in Afghanistan.
4. Class Discussion – Ask groups to briefly summarize their assigned refugee story for the rest of their classmates. You may also wish to have one or more students from each group present their map(s) to the class.
What did students learn about each refugee? What were some of the reasons people gave for leaving their countries of origin? After hearing a few answers to these questions, ask students if any of the refugees’ stories had similarities. How did experiences differ? Were students surprised by anything that they read (or viewed)? What challenges did the refugees face during their journeys, and how did they respond? What challenges do they face in their new locations? Which people, organizations, or governments have assisted them? Is there anything else that the students would like to know about the refugees they read about? About other refugees? Did hearing refugees’ stories shape students’ opinions about the global refugee crisis? If so, how?
Who do students think should be responsible for helping refugees? What do students think that people, organizations, and governments can and should do? What role do students think that the United States should play? How can students in your school assist refugees or learn from refugees in your community?
Extra Challenges
1. Ask students what they know of their community’s or school’s immigrant and refugee resettlement assistance measures. How have people in their own communities responded to the refugee crisis? Does the school or district have a policy or staff dedicated to assisting families resettled in the area? If so, what types of assistance or programs are offered? Encourage students to work in small groups to research the programs in place in their community, district, and/or school. Groups could then create infographics to distribute or post around school. If no such programs exist locally, students could research programs in their state and suggest options for their community, school, or district. If the school has received refugees, be sure that their voices are centered in all parts of the research, development of suggestions, and creation and placement of infographics.
2. Encourage students to explore domestic and international nongovernmental responses to the refugee crisis. How are citizens of the United States and other countries responding? What are some specific examples of people finding ways to assist and welcome refugees? (For example: A PBS News story, “How Seattle’s Vietnamese community is helping Afghan refugees” provides some examples from the United States; a report on the UN Migration website highlights the work of Lambda Poland, an organization helping LGBTIQ+ Ukrainian refugees; a New Humanitarian story, “‘We try to set examples’: Meet the local activists feeding DR Congo’s war-displaced” discusses a local group in the Democratic Republic of the Congo assisting displaced people there.) Students could contact local refugee support groups to interview a participant or to offer volunteer services. Alternatively, students might wish to organize a meeting at school to raise awareness and discuss possible next steps at the community level. For example, students may want to plan a fundraiser to assist an organization’s refugee aid efforts. Again, be sure that student refugee voices are centered in any projects students take up.
Supplementary Resources
UNHCR—The UN Refugee Agency (main page)
UNHCR—Emergencies (country profiles)
UNHCR—Global Trends Report
New York Times: Topics: Refugees and Displaced People
Al Jazeera: Topics: Coverage of the Refugee Crisis
The Refugee Project: Interactive Map
Switchboard explanatory video: Who are Refugees and How Do They Arrive in the United States?
Migratory Birds, a newspaper and website by young refugees for refugees in Greece
Re-Imagining Migration, a non-profit providing extensive resources for schools
Our Threads, an empathy-building card game for refugee and non-refugee students to play together
La Mochila, a Voz de América podcast (in Spanish) interviewing migrants
Resettled, an NPR podcast about refugees in Virginia